Sunnyvale, CA Environmental Rules: Flood Zones (2026)

110 sets the applicability: these regulations apply to development including subdivision of land, filling, grading, utility installation, manufactured home placement, recreational vehicle placement, tank installation, temporary structures and storage, Utility and Miscellaneous Group U buildings, building work otherwise exempt from permit, and flood control projects. The Flood Insurance Study for Santa Clara County dated December 19, 1997, together with the accompanying Flood Insurance Rate Maps and all later amendments, is adopted by reference as the basis for establishing flood hazard areas; current maps are kept at the Department of Public Works, 456 W.

Olive Ave. 120 designates the director of Community Development as floodplain administrator, with authority to review every permit application for flood hazard exposure, interpret flood hazard boundaries, require additional engineering data, coordinate substantial-improvement and substantial-damage determinations with the building official, and cite violations. Property owners proposing work in a flood hazard area must submit scaled site plans showing the flood hazard delineation, floodway boundaries, base flood elevations, proposed grading, and drainage; where FIRM data does not include base flood elevations, the administrator can require a licensed California civil engineer's study or set the elevation at two feet above the highest adjacent grade.

150, but it cannot be granted in a floodway if it would raise flood levels during the base flood, and any variance letting a lowest floor sit below the base flood elevation must warn the applicant in writing that flood insurance premiums could rise as high as $25 per $100 of coverage.